Controversial Paul aide leaves

Jack Hunter, the aide to Sen. Rand Paul who made headlines as the former “Southern Avenger” radio host, has left Paul’s office to resume his career as a political pundit, the senator’s communications director confirmed to POLITICO Monday.

Earlier this month, Hunter came under scrutiny for controversial comments he made about President Abraham Lincoln, Southern secession and Spanish-speaking immigrants.

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”Although Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth’s heart was in the right place, the Southern Avenger does regret that Lincoln’s murder automatically turned him into a martyr,’ he said in 2004,” according to the original report in The Washington Free Beacon. “He later wrote that he “raise[s] a personal toast every May 10 to celebrate John Wilkes Booth’s birthday.”

In a statement several weeks ago, Hunter said that it was his job as a radio host to “provoke and inflame.”

“I abhor racism and I have never advocated anything other than equal protection under the law for all people,” his statement read.

Moira Bagley, Paul’s communications director, said in a statement several weeks ago that their office policy is that “all employees treat individuals with the equal protection of the law. We find no evidence that this policy has been violated by any employee.”

Bagley did not have a statement Monday on Hunter’s departure. The Daily Caller reported Sunday that the former Paul aide was leaving his office.